The Winter 2024 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! This issue we’re delving in to the weird beliefs of the tech elites – and how they’re finding their way into politics.
Subscribe now from just £10 or buy a single issue online and in all good newsagents. Read on for a peek inside the magazine.
The new age of the cyborg?
Neurobiologist and journalist Moheb Costandi explores the rapidly-developing world of brain-computer interfaces. For some people, these devices are already transforming lives – but the technology is quickly overtaking the ethics.
“These devices have the potential to give new life and independence to the many people suffering from spinal cord injury … But trials are also underway to assess their application for a range of physical and mental health conditions … and Elon Musk’s ultimate ambition is to use them for augmentation, to increase the power of the human brain.”
A dangerous calculation
Peter Ward unpicks the dark philosophy of the tech billionaires and how it is infiltrating some of our most powerful organisations.
“During this year’s US election campaign, many of technology’s elite threw their weight (and money) behind Trump’s authoritarian platform … Beneath the flurry of political activity, a new worldview centred around the future of technology is becoming increasingly influential … It’s time that the general public learned more about it.”
There’s a product for that
A recent film, The Substance, explored the growing pressure on all of us – particularly women – to modify our bodies, not only through make-up and cosmetic procedures but also through digital filters. Clare Chambers, professor of political philosophy at the University of Cambridge, talks to us about the power of resistance and allowing our bodies to be “good enough”.
“Very often, our attitude to our bodies is not shaped so much by choice as it is by shame.”
New life in the veins
Peter Salmon recounts the bizarre history of blood transfusion – and why the super-rich remain fascinated by its possibilities.
“In March 1928, in Moscow, 53-year-old philosopher and scientist Alexander Bogdanov performed a blood transfusion … His aim was simple: he wanted to slow down and possibly even stop the ageing process… On 7 April, it killed him. But the idea did not die with him.”
The Winter 2024 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! Subscribe or buy a copy here.
Also in the Winter 2024 issue of New Humanist:
- Richard Dawkins on how to read DNA like a book
- Gabriela Di Donfrancesco on how the Vatican is hiding a drug problem within its ranks – even as it pushes for harsher laws
- Kaya Genç on how the Israel-Palestine conflict is threatening Turkish democracy
- Samir Jeraj on how Beirutis are pulling together in the face of crisis
- Eléonore Hughes on how cattle farmers are making peace with jaguars in Brazil
- Youth activist and TV host Thinzar Shunlei Yi on Myanmar’s future
- Tomiwa Owolade on Britain’s diversity dilemma
- Michael Rosen‘s latest language column, on the history and uses of the word “war”
- Samira Ahmed on why the right to divorce, without stigma, is such an important part of women’s history
- Paul Walsh on the inspiring older people sticking it to stereotypes
- Shaparak Khorsandi on partying like the good old days
Plus more fascinating features on the biggest topics shaping our world today, and all our regular science columns, book reviews, original poetry, the cryptic crossword and brainteaser.
New Humanist, a quarterly magazine of culture, ideas, science and philosophy, is published by the Rationalist Association, a 139-year-old charity promoting reason and free enquiry.